Chinese investors are working to build two new structures on a 5-acre parcel just east Murrieta Hot Springs Road-Alta Murrieta Drive intersection, one that will house a Golden Corral buffet restaurant and another that will be used for medical offices.
The restaurant building, according to Murrieta planners, will be 11,589 square feet and the medical office building will be 50,100 square feet. The parcel is bordered by homes to the east and north. A Coldwell Banker office and J. Carters Tavern Grill sit to the west.
Bruce Coleman, Murrieta’s Economic Development Director, said the city helped the Chinese delegation, Fu & Sons Investment Group, secure EB-5 money, which allows foreign nationals to invest at least $500,000 in projects that create at least 10 jobs in exchange for visas.
With the city’s assistance, the group was able to get its request approved in about six weeks, about half the time it normally takes to process an application.
“It’s an interesting opportunity to try and help an investor who wants to invest in Murrieta,” Coleman said, adding that the city is working hard to foster additional domestic and international investment in projects that will bring jobs and amenities to Murrieta.
To the south in Temecula, EB-5 money was used to help finance the construction of the Truax Building in Old Town. There also have been EB-5 projects supported by the county, including a solar panel manufacturer, medical facilities and the Desert Dunes Golf Resort, according to the National Association of Counties.
Once the plans are eventually approved by the city -- the land is already zoned for commercial development -- the Golden Corral restaurant could end up being the first location in Riverside or San Diego counties for the chain, which boasts 500 locations nationwide.
Right now the closest location for fans of the chain’s liquified chocolate towers and the low-cost lunch specials is City of Industry. There also is a location in the Imperial Valley city of El Centro.
There used to be a location in Temecula, but the Jefferson Avenue site closed a few years ago, giving way to a Chinese buffet.
Maisie Zhao, the listed contact for Fu & Sons, referred calls about her project to Golden Corral’s corporate office in Raleigh, North Carolina.
Chappell Phillips, a Golden Corral attorney, said the Golden Corral in Murrieta and one proposed for Lake Elsinore are both being opened as franchised locations.
There are only nine Golden Corral restaurants in all of California, counting a Bellflower restaurant that is opening soon, but Phillips said the company is actively looking to expand in the west via new franchise operations.
The chain started as a family steakhouse in North Carolina in the early 1970s. In the 80s, when salad bars were all the rage, the chain introduced a “buffet and grill” building design that evolved into the modern Golden Corral buffet floor plan.
The location in Lake Elsinore is slated for land next to the Lone Star Steakhouse on Dexter Avenue near the Central Avenue-Interstate 15 interchange.
Source - PE.com